AFC East Draft Grades

My 2018 AFC East Draft Grades

Buffalo Bills

Round 1: (7) Josh Allen, QB – Wyoming; (16) Tremaine Edmunds, LB – Virginia Tech
Round 3: (96) Harrison Phillips, DT – Stanford
Round 4: (121) Taron Johnson, CB – Weber State
Round 5: (154) Siran Neal, S – Jacksonville State; (166) Wyatt Teller, OG – Virginia Tech.
Round 6: (187) Ray-Ray McCloud, WR – Clemson
Round 7: (255) Austin Proehl, WR – North Carolina

Josh Allen – Round 1 grade, picked in round 1
Tremaine Edmunds – Round 1 grade, picked in round 1
Harrison Phillips – Round 3 grade, picked in round 3
Taron Johnson – Round 6 grade, picked in round 4
Siran Neal – Round 6 grade, picked in round 5
Wyatt Teller – Round 3 grade, picked in round 5
Ray-Ray McCloud – Did not scout
Austin Proehl – Did not scout

Josh Allen at seventh overall was a very questionable pick to me, I saw him as a late first round guy, but Tremaine Edmunds more than made up for that later on in the first round. I’m very high on Edmunds, he was a top five player on my board, and the Bills scooped him up in the teens for some great value. Phillips was a good pick for round three, and I see him getting playing time early, and Wyatt Teller was one of my favorite picks on day three, he has incredible size and strength and could see the field earlier than you think.

Grade: B+

Miami Dolphins

Round 1: (11) Minkah Fitzpatrick, S – Alabama
Round 2: (42) Mike Gesicki, TE – Penn State
Round 3: (73) Jerome Baker, LB – Ohio State
Round 4: (123) Durham Smythe, TE – Notre Dame; (131) Kalen Ballage, RB – Arizona State
Round 6: (209) Cornell Armstrong, DB – Southern Miss
Round 7: (227) Quentin Poling, LB – Ohio; (229) Jason Sanders, K – New Mexico

Minkah Fitzpatrick – Round 1 grade, picked in round 1
Mike Gesicki – Round 2 grade, picked in round 2
Jerome Baker – Round 3 grade, picked in round 3
Durham Smythe – Round 6 grade, picked in round 4
Kalen Ballage – Round 4 grade, picked in round 4
Cornell Armstrong – Did not scout
Quentin Poling – Did not scout
Jason Sanders – Did not scout

Minkah Fitzpatrick in round one was a great pick, although I would’ve preferred Derwin James. His versatility means he will see the field very early on in his Miami career. Gesicki will contribute pretty much instantly as an Evan Engram style tight end, and Jerome Baker is a coverage linebacker with great ball skills that I liked in the third round. The day three haul was headlined by speedy running back Kalen Ballage, who will backup Frank Gore.

Grade: A-

New England Patriots

Round 1: (23) Isaiah Wynn, OT – Georgia; (31) Sony Michel, RB – Georgia
Round 2: (56) Duke Dawson, CB – Florida
Round 5: (143) Ja’Whaun Bentley, LB – Purdue
Round 6: (178) Christian Sam, LB – Arizona State; (210) Braxton Berrios, WR – Miami
Round 7: (219) Danny Etling, QB – LSU; (243) Keion Crossen, DB – Western Carolina; (250) Ryan Izzo, TE – Florida State

Isaiah Wynn – Round 1 grade, picked in round 1
Sony Michel – Round 2 grade, picked in round 1
Duke Dawson – Round 4 grade, picked in round 4
Ja’Whaun Bently – Did not scout
Christian Sam – Did not scout
Braxton Berrios – Round 7 grade, picked in round 6
Danny Etling – Did not scout
Keion Crossen – Did not scout
Ryan Izzo – Round 6 grade, picked in round 7

Isaiah Wynn was a great pick in the first round, a lot of NFL teams were concerned with his height and injury history, but that is their loss as the Pats picked up one of my highest rated players in the class. Outside of that, I wasn’t a huge fan of this draft. Sony Michel is a great player, but I think that you could have grabbed him, Guice, or Chubb in round two and not have to sacrifice moving up into the first. The Pats drafted four players I didn’t even scout, so I was not a big fan of their day three picks outside of Dawson

Grade: B

New York Jets

Round 1: (3) Sam Darnold, QB – USC
Round 3: (72) Nathan Shepherd, DT – Fort Hays State
Round 4: (107) Chris Herndon, TE – Miami
Round 6: (179) Parry Nickerson, CB – Tulane; (180) Foley Fatukasi, DT – Connecticut (204) Trenton Cannon, RB – Virginia State

Sam Darnold – Round 1 grade, picked in round 1
Nathan Shepherd – Round 2 grade, picked in round 3
Chris Herndon – Round 4 grade, picked in round 4
Parry Nickerson – Round 4 grade, picked in round 6
Foley Fatukasi – Round 3 grade, picked in round 6
Trenton Cannon – Did not scout

Darnold was my #2 QB and he was the second quarterback off the board, Nathan Shepherd was a top 50 player that they got in the third round, Chris Herndon is a good depth tight end with high potential, and Parry Nickerson and Foley Fatukasi are both incredible values for sixth-round picks. This draft class has been flying under the radar, and I don’t really understShepherdShepherdd and Darnold will start on day one, and they picked a lot of players with developmental potential on round three. Great class.

Grade: A